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Mrs. Phelps
Lavender is a girl in Matilda’s class at Crunchem Hall Primary School, and she soon becomes Matilda’s best friend. She’s a tiny girl with brown hair. Lavender greatly admires Matilda for the tricks Matilda played on her father, and she also admires Hortensia when Hortensia tells the girls about all the time she’s spent in the Chokey as punishment for playing tricks on Miss Trunchbull. More than anything, Lavender wants to do something that would impress her friends and make her seem just as crafty and cunning. So Lavender volunteers to prepare Miss Trunchbull’s water jug and glass—and Lavender puts a newt from her pond in the jug. Though Lavender doesn’t own up to her crime and lets Matilda take the fall for it, this isn’t framed as a bad thing. Indeed, it creates the situation where Matilda discovers her power.
Lavender Quotes in Matilda
The Matilda quotes below are all either spoken by Lavender or refer to Lavender. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 10
Quotes
Both Matilda and Lavender were enthralled. It was quite clear to them that they were at this moment standing in the presence of a master. Here was somebody who had brought the art of skullduggery to the highest point of perfection, somebody, moreover, who was willing to risk life and limb in pursuit of her calling.
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Chapter 11
Quotes
“He simply wouldn’t believe you.”
“Of course he would.”
“He wouldn’t,” Matilda said. “And the reason is obvious. Your story would sound too ridiculous to be believed. And that is the Trunchbull’s great secret.”
“What is?” Lavender asked.
Matilda said, “Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. Make sure everything you do is so completely crazy it’s unbelievable. No parent is going to believe this pigtail story, not in a million years. Mine wouldn’t. They’d call me a liar.”
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Chapter 12
Quotes
Already Lavender’s scheming mind was going over the possibilities that this water-jug job had opened up for her. She longed to do something truly heroic. She admired the older girl Hortensia to distraction for the daring deeds she had performed in the school. She also admired Matilda who had sworn her to secrecy about the parrot job she had brought off at home, and also the great hair-oil switch which had bleached her father’s hair. It was her turn now to become a heroine if only she could come up with a brilliant plot.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Matilda LitChart as a printable PDF.
Lavender Quotes in Matilda
The Matilda quotes below are all either spoken by Lavender or refer to Lavender. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 10
Quotes
Both Matilda and Lavender were enthralled. It was quite clear to them that they were at this moment standing in the presence of a master. Here was somebody who had brought the art of skullduggery to the highest point of perfection, somebody, moreover, who was willing to risk life and limb in pursuit of her calling.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11
Quotes
“He simply wouldn’t believe you.”
“Of course he would.”
“He wouldn’t,” Matilda said. “And the reason is obvious. Your story would sound too ridiculous to be believed. And that is the Trunchbull’s great secret.”
“What is?” Lavender asked.
Matilda said, “Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. Make sure everything you do is so completely crazy it’s unbelievable. No parent is going to believe this pigtail story, not in a million years. Mine wouldn’t. They’d call me a liar.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12
Quotes
Already Lavender’s scheming mind was going over the possibilities that this water-jug job had opened up for her. She longed to do something truly heroic. She admired the older girl Hortensia to distraction for the daring deeds she had performed in the school. She also admired Matilda who had sworn her to secrecy about the parrot job she had brought off at home, and also the great hair-oil switch which had bleached her father’s hair. It was her turn now to become a heroine if only she could come up with a brilliant plot.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
